Yet this is from the pen of the same writer who first tried to unite Eastern and Western Ukraine and who had written interesting and sympathetic studies of the Kozaks of the preceding centuries. He had returned to poetry after the death of Shevchenko with his collection _Dosvidki_ (_Experiences_) in 1862 and he brought out several other volumes. They were good poems but they were sadly lacking in that especial spark of genius which alone marks the great poets of the world. At the same time and despite his unmitigated opposition to the Kozaks and all that they stood for, Kulish continued to work at the translation of the masterpieces of the world into Ukrainian. He translated many of the plays of Shakespeare, the poems of Byron, and much of Goethe and Schiller. On a more ambitious scale during his residence in Lviv he translated the Books of Moses and then in 1870 he brought out the Four Gospels and the Book of Psalms. He continued to work on this after his return to Russia and by his death he had completed twenty-nine books of the Old Testament. All this was in addition to a constant stream of journalistic work. Kulish continued to work to the very end and often in the greatest poverty. For long periods of time, he and his wife were compelled to live on almost the same fare as those peasants whom he affected to despise and for whom he was expending all his energy. Illness did not stop his working and he continued almost to the very end which came on February 2, 1897. His was a sad fate. One of that brilliant group that had suffered so much for the cause of Ukraine in 1847, he gradually drifted towards a point of view that could benefit no one but the enemies of his people. Yet with it all he continued his work, sacrificing more and more to it, without being able to see the inherent contradictions between his goal and his philosophy. With his ability and his personal integrity, he could have been a far more attractive figure, had he ever reached a proper balance but even without that, he has left his mark upon the development of the language and literature and he was one of the first to grasp the possibilities of contact between Eastern and Western Ukraine and to act upon it. In evaluating his work we must agree with Yefremiv that he was great in his positive achievements but also great in his mistakes. Then and only then can we see him in his true perspective. CHAPTER SEVEN MARKO VOVCHOK